Amitav Ghosh`s "The Hungry Tide" focuses on Piya, a scientist from the USA with Indian origins, and Kanai, a successful Indian city guy, who meet within the tide country. Kanai is returning after a long time because his deceased uncle Nirmal has left him a notebook. Piya has come to study river dolphins. They meet en route in a train and after a while their paths cross again.

The vivid language of Ghosh and his sympathetic way of story telling help to advance through the mangroves and into another world. Attacks by tigers, crocodiles and storms are a daily threat here but man itself remains the biggest predator. One has to allow to sink into this world and then the book is a really nice (and fast) read...